The silence has been deafening.
Before it came the noise.
It emanated from the mouth (and fingertips) of an ex-Premier League footballer who, until seven weeks ago, was managing an English Football League club. And it shouted about the presence of women working in men’s football. It denigrated them. Belittled them. Libelled them. Bullied them. Said they shouldn’t work in men’s football because they didn’t understand the game.
You probably know who we are talking about. But you won’t read his name in this article. Nor will you see the names of many of the female broadcasters who we spoke to for it.
Why the secrecy? In the case of the former, because it’s not solely about him — his words are symptomatic of something far more deep-rooted than an individual fishing for bites. And for the latter, it’s because the past week has been a heavy one for women working in football. They do not want or need any extra load sent in their direction. They have asked to be made anonymous for protection.
The damaging words were spread far and wide: To the former footballer’s 2.7million followers on Twitter. To the 8.7m followers of Piers Morgan, whose Uncensored programme provided another outlet for the ex-player’s harmful message.
How then, did the sport respond?
With silence,…
